Reading RA - From the Middle

You don't have to be mad...

They have always said it about goalkeepers (and referees for that matter) but life for the keeper is different nowadays and not quite as hazardous as it used to be.

Many readers will have seen that clip of the 1958 FA Cup Final with Nat Lofthouse violently bundling Gregg, the Manchester United keeper, into the net clutching the ball and having the goal allowed. You certainly don’t see that any more, but most people (including some referees, dare it be said), seem to have forgotten that the Laws do allow contact, including a fair shoulder charge on the keeper in his goal area if he’s holding the ball.

Mentions in the Laws

Not surprisingly the goalkeeper figures frequently in the Laws as it’s the most specialised and exposed position. Three main reasons

to give him protection
to say what he can/has to do at penalties/penalty shoot-outs
to try to stop him slowing the game down and time-wasting.

As it happens, the first mention of the goalkeeper in the Laws is not to do with any of these - it is to stipulate that he has to wear colours ‘which distinguish him from the other players’. We all need to know who’s going to have the privilege of handling the ball.

Contact and the goalkeeper

The keeper is most vulnerable stretching up for the ball or diving for it with an on-rushing forward. This is when his opponent is most likely to be penalised, though it is as often for (unintentionally) dangerous play as for a deliberate foul. Of course, not all keepers are saints and the referee has to watch for the deliberately wayward punch and the use of the elbow and raised knee.

What the keeper can get wrong

In Law 12 (Fouls and Misconduct) the goalkeeper has a whole section for himself. There are no fewer than five misdemeanours for which he can be penalised (by an indirect free kick):

taking more than four steps holding the ball in his hands
releasing the ball and touching it again before anyone else
handling the ball when it’s been kicked deliberately by a team-mate
or from a throw-in
time-wasting. (The figure of more than 5-6 seconds is now laid down, though not often applied in games on TV it seems).

At a penalty the goalkeeper used to have to remain still until the ball was kicked, but now he’s allowed to move - sideways but not forwards). Another example of the Law being changed to fit in with (mal)practice? Also, at a penalty shoot-out the goalkeeper has a special privilege: he is the only player who, if injured, can be replaced by a named substitute.

Interestingly, the International FA Board tells referees to award a penalty if the goalkeeper throws the ball at an opponent (whether he hits him or not). I have to admit that in many years of refereeing I have never once had to do it.

But really the worst thing about being a goalkeeper is still that any mistake you make is likely to be important. I know - I used to be one and made quite a few.

Brian Palmer

Back To Contents